In the past, playground equipment typically consisted of a single-unit device such as a slide, a swing, a set of swinging bars or the like. These components were sometimes permanently combined during manufacture. Modern playground equipment, however, has become a conglomeration of many playground components or modules attached to one another by various means and in a variety of arrangements. These changes in playground equipment have evolved to meet the demands of a new generation of child-care facilities. In the past, most playground equipment was found in large schoolyards where space was plentiful and basic equipment was sufficient. However, with the ever-increasing number of day-care facilities, play centers for learning and training of children and many other child-care facilities, the requirements for playground equipment to meet a great variety of needs have created a dilemma for the producers of the equipment.
For example, if a user is providing equipment for use in play and learning classes for children of various ages and abilities, such as the Gymboree® Play & Music® program, that involve age-appropriate activities, this would involve a mix of equipment, play and activities on mats. One of the more demanding aspects of the Gymboree® programs is the requirement to adapt the activity area for the next age group in the 5-10 minutes that are available between sessions. As in many child-care and learning facilities, the space requirements vary. While one facility with a large playground to accommodate large numbers of children may require equipment having several varied components, another smaller operation may have limited space, which requires the equipment to be limited to only one or a small number of components that must be specifically arranged to fit the available space.
While any playground equipment having a variety of components may obviously be assembled and disassembled, the equipment available prior to this disclosure relies on concrete footings and connecting devices that are rendered permanent by a variety of means and does not lend itself to be quickly and easily assembled and custom configured to meet the varied needs of the present generation of equipment users. Specifically fixed playground equipment does not allow for continuous adaptations to the play environment to accommodate children of various ages and abilities or to alter the play setting to provide additional challenge in consideration of the learning that children experience during use of the equipment. Thus, there is a need for a safe and sturdy modular playground system with a small number of module assembly mechanisms to which all playground modules may be attached that permits simplified transportation, assembly and modification of unattached playground modules of varied types without tools.
This unique design for a Ladder with Fixed and Removable Rungs is part of a system of components that may be fitted together to form a variety of arrangements, and when further combined with other special platforms, barriers, and climbing-activity components to name a few, are intended to inspire fitness activity and physical development in young children and those arrangements of components further perform that in ways that also serve to enhance cognitive and social developmental realms in the children who use the overall play equipment. This Ladder with Removable Rungs may also be used in other combinations to form additional structures and structural systems for other purposes than play. This Ladder with Removable Rungs has as a basic characteristic, a method included in its design that allows some of the horizontal rung components to be removed and repositioned by persons when in the process of reconfiguring the physical arrangement of the overall structure, of which this ladder is a key component. This process may be accomplished without the use of tools, only requiring the hands to fit and secure the components in place, or, conversely, to disassemble the components for reconfiguration or storage.